A Revelation
by scorpion22
Summary: Another James March story. Unfortunately Elizabeth doesn't exist here. I chose to give James a vampire queen that loved him instead. Read and find out. M for later chapters. I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing.

Chapter 1

"It was love at first sight" remembered James when he thought of the moment when he first laid eyes on his wife, Joanna Bastet, nearly eighty years ago in a ballroom in New York, his heart hers alone before she gave him hers in return. She had been a marvel that night, something almost untouchable as he watched her from across the room. Her blond hair had been shining in the chandeliers light bringing out her sapphire blue eyes and overtly pale skin. Her silver dress had glimmered too. She caught him looking at her after only a moment, her eyes scanning the length of him in his tuxedo without ever giving a clue as to what she thought in return. She only waved in a moment of coy teasing before her back was turned and yet she still had his heart all the same. She would keep it long after they were married then after he died too soon for her liking. James would spend his afterlife making up to her for leaving her sooner then he ever planned. Because once, as she lay naked in his arms, he had whispered to her that he would never leave her. He had loved her and walked with her on his arm. He had taken her for his wife and even dragged her from the city she loved, New York, to the sunshine of California, and then before either of them was ready, he had been forced to take his own life. He had been forced to break his promise and even though it was only for a few short months, he tried each day to make up for it just the same. James had promised never to leave her and despite what she said, he considered dying as breaking his promise. After she had sacrificed so much for him, come across the united stated for him, and then he had left her so easily. James didn't remember feeling pain as he slit his throat. He didn't remember anything really except thinking of her. It's true what they say, your life does flash through your eyes, and as James died, he thought of his life with her. That life flashed through his eyes, first that moment when he first saw her, then her kisses, their night laying in bed, and their wedding. It was all there as he left her for that short while. It left James with many regrets. He regretted never having her change him to be as she was. He regretted the mistake he'd made to draw the attention of the police to his doings. Most of all though, he just regretted dying, and leaving her. It wasn't what he'd wanted. That was why she was his last thought as the razor sliced through his throat. She was always the first thing on his mind when he awoke each morning and the last thing at the end of each night and that moment was no different.

James didn't know how much time elapsed before he appeared standing before his own body as it was enclosed in a body bag. He only remembered when she stumbled into the room refusing to let the policemen hold her back. He had stood there, his eyes on her yearning to hold her as she fell to her knees before his body, and he had watched as sobs were wrenched from her throat. She wouldn't let them take his body, she had sobbed over him until the police had forced her to her feet. James remembered wanting to throttle them as he watched them lay their hands on her, so they could take him from her. He had tried to touch her, tried to kneel before her, and make her hear him. Joanna couldn't hear or feel him though. Watching her cry and not being able to do anything had killed James all over again. Joanna couldn't see him right away. James didn't know if it was her grief that blocked her, but no matter what he did, he couldn't make her see him. He never left her side in the days following his death. He went where she went within the walls of the hotel as he quickly learned that he couldn't leave. He would speak to her, soothing words of love, but she didn't hear him. She merely sat in her sad state her face now always covered in her tears and James knew if she didn't have her immortality she would have withered away before his ghostly eyes. He could see the temptation growing in her eyes to end her immortal state. That was why he was glad when the fog finally lifted and suddenly, she saw him. If that hadn't happened, James knew she would have tried to join him in death, and that wasn't what he wanted. Since he died, he had taken to watching her sleep, and it was a time like this that she opened her eyes to see him. She stared right at him at first as if expecting him to disappear.

"Joanna?" James said it softly part of him unsure if she was really seeing him until her hand came to touch his cheek his hand coming to cover her own. He had missed her touch.

"You died, James, I saw them take you away" exclaimed Joanna his eyes closing in that moment to nuzzle her hand. He kissed her palm before his eyes opened again to look at her. The tears were gathering in her eyes then and suddenly, she was in his arms, breathing him in, and clinging to him.

"Shhhhhh, dearest. I'm right here with you. I'm won't ever leave you again. I mean it this time" breathed James letting his fingers run through her hair her body shaking with her sobs as her fists gripped his dress shirt before her eyes sought his as if to make sure she would really find him there with her.

"You should have let me change you. Everything would be alright if you'd let me change you" exclaimed Joanna her eyes accusing yet sad as they looked into his own. James didn't argue with her. He didn't even know what to say.

He knew she was right as he looked at her. From the moment they met, she had been honest with him as to her nature. While she had never called herself a vampire, she had revealed to him her immortal state as soon as she realized how she felt for him. Joanna had offered to change him many times, but for some reason James himself didn't understand, he always refused. He'd thought their time together would be longer. That he'd have the time to accept her offer someday when she asked again, but he never had. Now, as he looked at her, he felt foolish and sorry, and so many other things that had no real name. He had married the queen of the vampires, a woman who'd been living since before he was born, he'd fallen hopelessly in love with her really, only to not let her change him.

"Why didn't you let me change you?" whispered Joanna her voice pained as she looked up at him.

"I always thought there would be more time. I didn't know this would happen, I'm sorry, dearest. I should have walked by your side forever, Joanna. I made a mistake" whispered James his words spoken like the apology that it was as his hands cupped her face bringing her closer until their foreheads touched.

Joanna didn't answer or say anything. Her eyes peered up into his as her hands crisscrossed over his to touch the face, she never thought she'd touch again. She had been so sure she'd never see him again, never feel his arms around her again, and yet she had awoken to see him lying next to her like any other day. She just couldn't stop thinking about how she had nearly lost him, and a sob left her throat. As James drew her closer into the circle of his arms, Joanna slanted her mouth over his into a kiss. James closed his eyes as he drew her body taut against his as he kissed her deeply feeling the same emotions roiling through him as were going through her. When their lips opened, their eyes met as they opened once more, and as his hands caressed her back as he held her, Joanna still held his face in her hands.

"Don't you ever leave me again, James. I don't think I could bear it a second time" whispered Joanna her voice quivering as she let her hands drop from his face. Her arms were strong as they went around his waist and her head buried itself in his chest as she took a deep breath. So many months she had had to learn what it was like to live without him and she didn't want to experience that again.

"Never" James whispered kissing her head as his eyes closed. A thousand memories roamed behind his eyes then, all of her, his wife, and sighing, he let himself be drawn back into them.

Back to a time when he was a lad of new money stature in the land of dreams that was New York City and she was the goddess of every eyes, to the first time he saw her.


	2. Snowy Night

Chapter 2

February 1920…

James remembered the moment he stepped into the grande ballroom at the Astoria Hotel that night.

" That's him. James Patrick March, the one with all the new money...oil they say" James heard the people around him whispering about him as he walked the room a flute of champagne in his hand, as always, looking flawless in his tuxedo each whisper invigorating. Every eye seemed to be on him then, James didn't need to ask to know why. He was new money.

" I wonder how he managed it being as young as he is?" whispered a woman as he passed making James glance at her before smiling, he wouldn't grace her with an answer, for her knew the truth, hard work, he had done it with a lot of hard work, many sacrifices, all of which had paid off.

James didn't envy them their money passed from generation to generation. He wasn't ashamed of the way he'd worked his way up, but more proud instead. For he understood what it was to struggle, it made him appreciate what he had all the more, but these people couldn't say the same. They had never worked a day in their lives, but instead always had everything handed to them. No, James was proud of his hard fought for fortune, and he didn't care what anyone else thought about it. James was standing against the bar lost in these thoughts when he spotted her from across the room. She was on the arm of another man, but she looked bored to death by him as she stood there a mere ornament. It was clear she didn't appreciate this status as she let her eyes stray across the room idly. James couldn't remember having seen such beauty in all his days. She stood like a goddess, every eye on her even as they weren't, her body encased in black and silver as her whole body seemed to shine like fresh spun gold. James was in a trance over her, so much so that suddenly no one else in the room mattered. Until suddenly he looked up into her face to find she was looking right at him. It took him aback. She seemed to be giving him a once over until finally her eyes met his and she turned fully to face him. With a hand still on her gentleman's arm, she flashed him a fleeting smile that made something inside him flutter. It was gone though before he had the chance to savior it, her hand raising to give him an equally fleeting wave before she turned away from him altogether. James wasn't deterred though. Because there was something about her, something that he couldn't shake. The fact that she was with another man didn't matter, James would have her, woo her, make her fall as deeply in love with him as he was already falling for her. Because he found no one had ever intrigued him quite so much.

" Who is that woman?" whispered James to no one in particular. The people all around heard him though and a few laughed while some only shook their heads. For a moment, James let his temper rise prepared to show his contempt, but he stopped himself. He watched them all walk away until standing alone at the bar, he ordered a drink, downing it before ordering another. The barkeep was looking at him as he ordered his third.

" The woman you mentioned sir, that's Ms. Bastet, sir. She comes to a lot of these parties" whispered the barkeep his voice low so only the two could hear. As he spoke the man wouldn't look at him, but James paid that no mind. He only leaned closer wanting to know all there was to know about this beautiful Ms. Bastet. The man didn't disappoint him in that.

James raised his eyes to look at the man before sliding a hundred across the bar.

" What else can you tell me?" said James watching as the man pocketed the bill.

" Truthfully, sir, there isn't much to tell you. Her name is Joanna Bastet, she comes to many of these parties, but no one knows much about her. They say she has more money then God, all family money though no one knows quite how her family made their fortune. Some say diamonds, others more sinister things, but no can know because she's the only one to ask. Supposedly her family died when she was a child of an illness. There's a lot of mystery surrounding her. The only sure thing we know is at every party she has a different escort, never the same one twice either" the man told him it all in a hurried whisper. James held on to his every word and the more he told the more intrigued he became. James found her history made him fall all the more in love with her. He wanted her, promised himself he would have her. He just didn't know how he would snag her as he watched the man walk away as another man called for a drink. James didn't say anything as he did. He only turned, his drink in his hand, and he searched for her with his eyes. He spotted her immediately, her in all her beautiful radiant glory, and he smiled as he sipped his drink. Her gentleman had disappeared, she was alone now though she looked content with that as she rose, leaving the ballroom with a fluid elegance he'd yet to see in any other woman.

When he started to follow her, James' legs seemed to move on their own until he found her.

" The light doesn't do her justice" thought James when he found her, his eyes on her as she stood leaning out on the balcony to look over the city, her whole body encased in dull moonlight, smoke billowing from the cigarette between her gloved fingers. She wore a dress of shining silver that sparkled in that same light, the flares of black accents meshing perfectly with the fabric. He could see the pale pink of her legs as they peeked through the slit up the side. They were long slender legs, James couldn't help looking at them with hunger in his eyes, and for a moment he just wanted to go to her, press her into the wall, wrap those legs around his waist, and take her. There would be time for that though as he watched her still wanting to make her his all the more. James couldn't help thinking that he had never met a woman who looked so elegant before. Her blond hair was almost white in the moonlight. She had it pinned with small diamond accents atop her head. She was a picture of a queen and James could picture it still. She would be the queen to his king.

" She will be mine" James let the thought pass as he pictured all the delicious things he could do to her, his body tight against hers, his lips leaving their mark along her neck, everywhere the pearl choker she wore failed to cover, the black gloves that ran up to her elbow covering her skin as she held him to her, but as quickly as that vision filled his mind, he was drawn away when she spied him looking at her.

James had been so busy looking at her that he hadn't noticed when she caught him doing so.

" Everybody stares" said Joanna, laughing, a smile showing on her perfect red lips, her black shadowed eyes fluttering in her amusement. At first, James wasn't sure if she was laughing at him, but then as quickly as she'd started, she stopped. She simply watched him then and James briefly wondering what she was thinking. Her eyes revealed nothing though as she turned leaning against the balcony with her eyes still watching him closely. After a moment, James realized she wasn't just summing him up, but trying to decide if she could trust him. He wasn't sure when, but when she decided she could, she smiled, and raising her hand, she crooked a finger at him. James didn't move though as he simply stood there still completely entranced by her until coming to his senses, he mentally shook himself. He came to her side suddenly realizing that his drink was still in his hand. He set it on the balcony suddenly unable to care if it should slip into the night as he looked into her eyes. After another moment, she looked away with a brilliant smile, and she breathed in the cold night air. She braced her hands on the railing then as she looked out over the city. He realized then that she was letting her guard down, becoming at ease with him at her side, and it gave him the courage to step closer to her.

" You're James March, the new money everyone can't stop talking about" whispered Joanna not looking at him as she did, but keeping her eyes away, letting them sweep across the lights of the city.

" Yes well, it would seem being self made isn't as revered as I had hoped as you well know" said James the disdain in his voice drawing her eyes to him. She threw her cigarette over the edge as she leaned closer, so much so that he could smell the uplifting scent that was her perfume.

" You shouldn't put so much stock into what they think. They're nothing, but a bunch of snobs who never had to take care of themselves. Personally, I don't think it matters, old money or new. It's all money, the only difference is some earned it, other didn't. What none of those snobby igortist blue bloods fail to understand is they were once just like you. Generations ago, their grandfather, great grandfather and so on, they built a fortune the hard way, and were that generations new money. None of it just appeared for them to take for granted, but no one stops to consider that" Joanna said it with the same disdain he had in his voice before. She looked him right in the eye as she said it and suddenly, James knew for sure, he was in love with her. It was like she had read his mind. No, it was more then that; it was like they were of the same mind. It fueled the fire he had inside to make her his. As he looked at her then, James couldn't deny he felt a type of connection to her.

" She is a jewel like no other" thought James in that moment gazing into her eyes finding a wisdom that people rarely saw in women of her age.

" We are of one mind, Ms. Bastet" whispered James finally bringing her hand to let his lips ghost over it.

" It would appear we are, Mr. March, and my name is Joanna. I would like it very much if you'd use it" said Joanna with a smile. James smiled in return then a suddenly warmth filling them both as they instinctively moved closed in the cold February breeze. Neither of them noticed it though as lost as they were in each other. Neither of it said it out loud, but they saw something in the other. A kinship, an understand that they had failed to find in anyone else around them, but again neither of them said it out loud. Even as neither of them could deny what they were feeling.

" Joanna, please, call me James. I don't think we need the formalities" whispered James both their eyes flying to the sky as it started to snow. Joanna smiled as the snow floated all around her.

James found it endearing as he watched her take joy in the small flaky frosts that floated in the air. They landed in her hair, but he didn't touch them and neither did she. They looked right there, sitting in the white blond strandes, and as he looked at her, he knew if he had dared rid her of them that she wouldn't have let him. She wanted them there. It was like the snow was part of who she was in that moment and she wouldn't let anyone part her from it. Her smile never left her face then as she watched the snow as it began to cover not just her, but the city down below. After a moment, she brought a hand to catch the small flakes. Some melted into the fabric of her gloves while others stayed to settled atop the fabric, the white contrasting beautifully against the black. They collected there until her hand was covered in white only then did she blow them away, laughing as they floated away in the night air.

" I love snow. It covers the city in such beauty and just freezes it so it's almost like it could stay that way forever" exclaimed Joanna a brilliant joy radiating off her as he watched her take her joy from it, the sight only making him love her more.

" If you'll allow me, I'll escort you back inside. I'd hate for you to catch a chill" James said it on a breath her eyes finding his then a happy glint within them. He saw in them much to his pleasure that she didn't want him to go. That she wanted him to stay with her and play in the snow. James quickly found that he didn't mind. As long as she was with him, he could suddenly imagine doing anything.

" Don't go yet. You should learn to embrace the snow...after all, who knows when you'll see it again. I mean, just look at it. It's the most beautiful sight I've ever seen" exclaimed Joanna on a laugh her eyes moving away from his to drift over the city as the snow started to cover it. James couldn't agree with her in that moment though, for as he looked at her, he knew one thing. She was, in that very moment, the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. So, he stayed there with her, merely enjoying her joy even as he didn't altogether understand her fascination with the natural white ice. He didn't think he needed to though. When he saw her joy, the way her eyes glowed in her amusement, it was enough. James had always lived solely for his own happiness until now, but suddenly, he found he wanted to live for hers as well. He found he would do anything to ensure her happiness even stand in the cold of New York City and get covered in snow with her. When he didn't go back inside without her, she seemed surprised, but pleased.

" I like you, James, anyone else would have left me out here, but you stayed. No one ever stays" whispered Joanna suddenly smiling in a way that warmed him greatly her hand suddenly coming to touch his cheek, but after a moment she moved it, placing it in the crook of his arm as if proclaiming she was with him now though the actual words never actually left her lips.

" I think I'm ready to go back in" whispered Joanna leaning close to the warmth of his body as he escorted her back into the ballroom. When they were inside, she led him to the center of the dance floor, and placing his hand at her waist, she asked him to dance with her with her eyes. She was his for the rest of the night and would remain his for the rest of eternity.


End file.
